Lara Rusch ~ 12
participation since Vatican II, the opportunities do not carry the same urgency of self-
reliance that they carry in the Baptist tradition. The following example, drawn from
participant observation, shows how an organizer interpreted and evaluated a small core
team meeting at a Catholic church.
Towards the end of the meeting, the priest entered and spoke to the group, shifting
the meeting from a discussion to monologue for several minutes. He expressed deep
concern that the core team had “fallen apart” and said that the parishioners have to work
on rebuilding and sustaining it.
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The pastor said that for his part, he would talk to other
priests regarding the distribution and collection of yellow cards [information for the
internal organizing team] during mass. However, he was worried about the timing of the
process in mass, insisting that the cards not take more than three and a half minutes. Also
he said several others will also be taking up mass time with announcements (various
collections, taco sale fundraiser, etc.). Towards the end of the meeting a Sister (nun)
spoke up to the priest when he asked her about next steps for the core team. She said
something like, “Father we are going to do this and you are going to do that!” I remember
being surprised by her gutsy response.
After the meeting, the community organizer and I discussed and evaluated the
meeting. He said, “you would never hear a black pastor complain like this [priest],”
because, “they would take more responsibility for the outcome of the team.” He argued
that because in the Catholic Church the authority comes from the Bishop rather than from
the congregation, priests do not have to prove themselves to the congregation to the same
degree. Considering the nun’s intervention, the community organizer reflected that this
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Fieldnotes from Sunday, May 23, 2004.
Convention